SPORTS
FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2016
STANFIELD
Sports shorts
Broncos swipe
OL Okung from
Seahawks
DENVER (AP) — The
Denver Broncos continued
bolstering their offensive
line on
Thursday
when they
agreed to
a ¿ ve-year
contract with
former Seattle Seahawks
tackle Russell Okung.
Selected by Seattle with
the sixth pick in the 2010
draft out of Oklahoma
State, Okung started 72
regular-season games and a
dozen playoff contests for
the Seahawks over the last
six seasons. He was a Pro
Bowler in 2012.
Okung’s 20 sacks allowed
in his career rank as the
fewest in the league among
tackles who have started
at least half of their team’s
games in each season since
2010.
The Broncos also added
guard Donald Stephenson in
free agency.
1B
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Grogan tosses perfect game in 2016 debut
Baseball
Junior righty strikes
out 12 in ¿ ve innings
By SAM BARBEE
East Oregonian
Stan¿ eld baseball coach
Bryan Johnson is depending
on talented right-hander Dylan
Grogan to be a foundational
piece to the Tigers’ pitching staff
in 2016 as they endeavor to win
their third straight 3A Eastern
Oregon League title.
If Thursday’s performance
was any indication, Johnson
won’t have to fret much about
the lanky junior. Grogan spun
an abbreviated perfect game in
his 2016 debut, tossing ¿ ve full
Union
Stanfi eld
0
16
innings allowing zero baserun-
ners while striking out 12 Union
Bobcats in just 57 pitches as
the Tigers throttled the Bobcats
16-0.
“You can’t ask for much more
out of the gate,” Johnson said of
the win. “The kids were focused
and dialed it in.”
Grogan was effective and
ef¿ cient from the ¿ rst pitch.
His mid-80s fastball was too
much for Union hitters, and he
deftly mixed in change-ups and
breaking balls to keep the hitters
off balance. He relied on the
heater though, not wanting to
speed up the Bobcat bats, which
were consistently behind the
hard fastball. In the top of the
second inning, Grogan struck
out the side using nothing but
fastballs against the four, ¿ ve
and six hitters in Union’s order.
It was a demonstration of
what Grogan can do if he throws
strikes, something he struggled
with as a sophomore. Of the
57 pitches, 46 were strikes. He
threw three or more balls in an
inning just twice.
“Dylan’s biggest thing this
year was just throwing strikes,”
Johnson said, adding he threw
Stanfi eld
righty
Dylan
Grogan
delivers a
pitching
Thursday
during his
perfect
game
and a
16-0 Tiger
win over
Union at
Madigan
Field.
Staff photo by
Sam Barbee
See STANFIELD/2B
PENDLETON
Bucks, Dawgs shine in opener
Delgado splits
matches at NCAA
Championships
NEW YORK — Former
Hermiston Bulldog and
current Oregon State
wrestler Joey Delgado is
still alive in the consolation
bracket after
¿ rst day
FACES the
of the NCAA
Wrestling
Championships
at Madison
Square Garden.
Delgado
(24-14) went
Delgado
into the
tournament
unseeded at 149 pounds,
and dropped his ¿ rst round
match-up against the No. 11
seed Anthony Collicka from
Oklahoma State with an
11-8 decision.
The redshirt junior then
came back in the consolation
bracket and defeated San
Diego State’s Alex Kocer by
a 9-7 decision to move on to
competition on Friday.
Delgado is scheduled to
take on Boise State’s Geo
Martinez (29-7) on Friday
in the second round of the
consolation bracket.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton senior Lukas Johnson clears 11 feet 6 inches in the pole vault Thursday during the Buck Track Classic in Pendleton.
Area teams wrap up i rst competition with high expectations for season
“I’ve had more
Powerade than
I’ve ever had in
my life right now.“
— Tony Bennett
Virginia Cavaliers men’s
basketball coach follow-
ing No. 1 seed Virginia’s
81-45 win over No.16
seed Hampton on
Thursday. Bennett
collapsed on the side-
line during the waning
seconds of the i rst half,
but came back in the
second half and missed
no considerable time
in the game. Bennett
said afterwards that he
had been sick earlier
in the week and that he
blamed the collapse on
simple
dehydration.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1993 — Santa Clara beats
Arizona 64-61 to become the
second 15th-seeded team to
win a ¿ rst-round game in the
NCAA tournament.
2001 — Indiana’s Reggie
Miller becomes the ¿ rst
player in NBA history to
total 2,000 3-pointers after
hitting four in a 101-95 win
over Sacramento.
2013 — LeBron James
and the Miami Heat escape
Boston with their 23rd
victory in a row, the second
longest win streak in NBA
history.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
On Thursday afternoon, more
than 700 athletes from more than
15 schools from eastern Oregon
descended on Pendleton High
School for the 25th annual Buck
Track Classic.
It marked the ¿ rst opportunity
for athletes to get a crack at compe-
tition in the 2016 season, as well as
the ¿ rst time for coaches to really
see the progression and develop-
ment of their runners, throwers,
and jumpers after only a few weeks
of practice.
“It gives the kids a mark to work
at the rest of the season,” Pendleton
coach Dustin Breshears said. “It
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Weston-McEwen freshman Keree Graves leads her heat in the also gives us coaches points on
400-meter dash Thursday during the Buck Track Classic in Pendleton. what to do and where to go with
our workouts and practices moving
forward.”
After everything was completed,
the Pendleton Buckaroos and
Hermiston Bulldogs could only
smile at their results as each team
had very successful days.
For Pendleton, the team did
much better than the coaches had
anticipated.
“I was very pleased and
surprised ... a lot of the kids did
way better than we had expected,”
Pendleton coach Dustin Breshears
said. “We had kids hitting (personal
records) and beating times from last
year in just the ¿ rst meet, which is
very exciting as a coach.”
One of those surprises was
junior sprinter Soren Wolf, who
in his ¿ rst year as a member of the
See TRACK/2B
Prep Roundup
Pioneers pick up walk-off win on TigerScots
Softball
Biggs plays hero in
Pioneers’ season-opener
East Oregonian
MILTON-FREEWATER
—
Mac-Hi senior Abi Biggs stepped
to the plate with her Pioneers
team trailing the Weston-McEwen
TigerScots 5-4 in the bottom of the
seventh inning.
The bases were loaded — after
a single from Jenny Field and back-
to-back walks by Shannon Carter
and Mallory Copeland — and there
were already two outs in the inning.
But with a full count, Biggs took the
pitch from TigerScot pitcher Jessica
W-McEwen
Mac-Hi
5
6
Lambert and smashed it into the
out¿ eld and off the left ¿ eld fence
which scored Field and Carter for a
walk-off double to give the Pioneers
the 6-5 win.
“They walked Mallory inten-
tionally to get to Abi. She knew why
they did it and she was determined
to come through and it’s huge for
her,” Christian said. “Overall I’m
just proud of the way that the girls
played and started the year off with
a win.”
Copeland pitched all seven
innings for the Pioneers (1-0) in her
¿ rst pitching action in more than
two years, allowing six runs and
seven hits while striking out ¿ ve
batters and walking four. She also
was a force at the plate, going 2-3
with two home runs and four RBIs.
———
R H E
W-M (0-1) 002 000
3 — 5 7 0
MHS (1-0) 300 001
2 — 6 6 2
Copeland and Lesko. Lambert and Earl.
W — Copeland. L — Lambert.
HEPPNER 14, UMATILLA
1 — At Heppner, the Mustangs
needed only ¿ ve innings to grab
their ¿ rst win of the season, beating
down the Umatilla Vikings on
Thursday afternoon.
Pitchers Meranda Lemmon
and Dakota Durphy combined for
allow just one hit and two walks on
the mound for the Mustangs (1-0),
while Cassidy McCullough picked
up two hits to lead the offense.
“The girls played pretty well for
the ¿ rst time out this year,” Heppner
coach Petra Payne said. “The game
showed us some little things and
situations we have to work on, but
it was nice to get the win.”
Umatilla (0-1) next plays at
home against Walla Walla Academy
on Mar. 29, while Heppner will host
the Hermiston JV on Mar. 23.
———
UHS (0-1) 000 10 —
1 1 3
HHS (1-0) 1013 00 — 14 10 3
Lemmon, Durphy (3) and Hanby. Trajillo, Rodriguez
(3), and Reyes.
2B — Correa, Orem (HHS).